French copyright cops: we’re swamped with “three strikes” complaints

Ars sits down with Hadopi, the French government agency overseeing the country …

Hadopi, the French agency charged with implementing France's stringent "three strikes" copyright enforcement program, has released new statistics that shed light on the logistical challenges of getting a nation of 65 million people to stop sharing infringing content online.

The volume of alleged infringement is even higher than earlier reports suggested. More than 18 million complaints have been submitted so far, and Hadopi hasn't been able to keep up. So far, only 470,000 initial warning e-mails have been sent to French Internet users. Only a small fraction of those—about 20,000—have received second notices, and around 10 French Internet users have received their third "strike" and are now facing possible penalties.

"We don't want to prosecute people"

In an interview with Ars, a Hadopi spokesperson said there were two reasons it hasn't sent out more notices. One was technical. "The system we're using is a prototype," he said, with limited capacity. Work has begun on a more robust system, and "we think it'll be ready at the end of the year."

But Hadopi also said that it has held off on sending out second and third notices because it wants to give Internet users time to change their ways. "We don't want to prosecute people," said the spokesperson. "We just want to push people to change when, knowing it or not, they are committing piracy. So we're trying to give people the time to understand what they are doing and to change before prosecuting them."

Another reason for the apparent backlog is that, in some case, Hadopi has received numerous notices for the same user. "If we get the same notice, from the same people, the same week, with the same software, it's counted as just one notice, not 10, or 15, or 20," said the spokesperson.

This means that (contrary to some reports), it's probably not true that nearly a third of all French Internet users have been caught sharing files. Hadopi couldn't tell us the exact number of subscribers responsible for the 18 million complaints, because it needs ISP help to identify who had a given IP address at a given point in time, and it's way behind in seeking that information. So far, it has only sent ISPs about a million requests, leaving more than 17 million to go.

Hadopi also released statistics on how users respond to notices. Only seven percent of users have responded to the first notice (which comes by e-mail), while 15 percent responded to the second (which is sent both as email and snailmail). The agency tells Ars that angry responses are in the minority. Many people call simply for technical information. "Some people didn't know that they were using the P2P software," said the spokesperson. "When they're launching the computer, the software can launch at the same time."

Hadopi declined to say exactly how many users have reached the third and final stage of the three-strikes process, saying only that it's around 10 people. And it could be a while before any of them face disconnection of their network access. First, a user is entitled to a hearing with the agency, which reviews the case and decides whether to refer it to a judge. Then the judge reviews the case, and if the judge decides a punishment is merited, there are two options. The judge can assess a fine of up to 1,500 euros or else can kick the user off the Internet for up to a month.

Beyond disconnection?

Hadopi faulted media outlets like Ars for focusing too much on the ultimate disconnection penalty. The agency insists that this is just one part of a broader copyright enforcement program, which in turn is just one of the agency's functions—others include promoting the availability of legal content and promoting Internet literacy.

We can appreciate that Hadopi has a broad mission, but the three strikes program, with its threat to actually disconnect people from the Internet over online infringement, is what has drawn worldwide attention to France's antipiracy program. For example, we've been covering American ISPs' recent tentative steps toward a "graduated response" strategy of their own. Those ISPs took great pains to distinguish their own policies from a French-style 3-strikes plan, promising that they would not spy on their users or disconnect them from the Internet. Disconnection as a sanction has almost come under attack from the United Nations and from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, both of which say the penalty is disproportionate to the offense.

Many countries have tried user education and promoting legal content, but France's sanctions are almost unique. We're curious to see how the system works out. So far, it looks like Hadopi is struggling to keep up with the massive volume of complaints—but perhaps more horsepower and better automation can actually keep up. Here in the US, ISPs have balked at doing even a few hundred IP address lookups a month in file-sharing lawsuits, saying they don't have the staff. French ISPs may need more automated systems of their own to respond to Hadopi's demands.

Timothy B. Lee
Timothy covers tech policy for Ars, with a particular focus on patent and copyright law, privacy, free speech, and open government. His writing has appeared in Slate, Reason, Wired, and the New York Times. Emailtimothy.lee@arstechnica.com//Twitter@binarybits

Under 2 years in effect, and already they've received 18 million completely baseless complaints from whiny media conglomerates.

Yet another slap in the face of the taxpayer. Pay your taxes so the government can use the funds to set up useless organizations like Hadopi and create new judicial bureaucracies which waste even more to harass the poor taxpayer who put them there in the first place.

Here in Canada we have similar issues. First our government robs us in the form of taxes, then gives a portion of that to the CRTC, who uses it to pass rules and regulations which enable our telecom oligopoly to rob us again.

Weren't democratic governments supposed to operate in the public's best interest? I guess that part of the deal must've become inconvenient.

People are complaining that they get no internet if they use it to steal stuff? Really? I mean if you have stupid kids or let your neighbors download stuff (bad ideas, both of em) then I could see the point of THREE different strikes. You should be able to buy your way back online though at least.

Honestly I don't get why people seem to think they have the right to use the internet when they're using it for piracy anyway. If they aren't intending to pirate things then there should be a process for dealing with that and be done with it.

When I read the "If we get the same notice, from the same people, the same week, with the same software, it's counted as just one notice, not 10, or 15, or 20," said the spokesperson" part, it brought up some questions.1. So if I sent a notice about the same thing next week, even though it happened last week, is it another strike?2. With the same software? Is this reporting software, software piracy, p2p software?

Hadopi faulted media outlets like Ars for focusing too much on the ultimate disconnection penalty. The agency insists that this is just one part of a broader copyright enforcement program, which in turn is just one of the agency's functions—others include promoting the availability of legal content and promoting Internet literacy.

This seems a naive viewpoint to hold. One could say that the death penalty is just one part of the legal system, but for the French it was (and is) a massive issue, banning it is written into their law several ways. It was rarely used before the ban and on some horrendous people (the list of the last people who were killed in France when they had the death penalty leaves one feeling pretty torn on it).

I'm not trying to equate losing ones internet connection with death, but it's a pretty big thing to take away and doing so shouldn't be so flippantly put aside. It's a communication tool, one that crosses borders and is considered a human right by many. I think the reaction of the global media was more than appropriate.

People are complaining that they get no internet if they use it to steal stuff? Really? I mean if you have stupid kids or let your neighbors download stuff (bad ideas, both of em) then I could see the point of THREE different strikes. You should be able to buy your way back online though at least.

Honestly I don't get why people seem to think they have the right to use the internet when they're using it for piracy anyway. If they aren't intending to pirate things then there should be a process for dealing with that and be done with it.

Proving innocence is too complicated. Presuming guilt is easier for everyone involved (except, of course, the citizens) so that's the option the corporate government chose.

The only solution is to find out what IP addresses are used by members of the French government and get complaints filed against them.

Never happen. Notice how you've never seen a politician or their child on trial for copyright infringement in the US. Do you really think filthy rich kids don't engage in P2P at all? Yet they never get sued. The only people who will find themselves under the gun are those in the middle class and below.

When I read the "If we get the same notice, from the same people, the same week, with the same software, it's counted as just one notice, not 10, or 15, or 20," said the spokesperson" part, it brought up some questions.1. So if I sent a notice about the same thing next week, even though it happened last week, is it another strike?2. With the same software? Is this reporting software, software piracy, p2p software?

Yep, and what if its 3 notices same week from 3 different whiny media companies?Whats to stop the music companies (for example) sending the same notice form Sony, Warner, EMI?

Anyway, we are coming out with a new plugin to help the Frenchies (and everyone else) in 1-2 weeks HADOPI, your task is going to get a lot harder... even with this 17 million backlogged thingies on your crummy back.

People are complaining that they get no internet if they use it to steal stuff? Really? I mean if you have stupid kids or let your neighbors download stuff (bad ideas, both of em) then I could see the point of THREE different strikes. You should be able to buy your way back online though at least.

Honestly I don't get why people seem to think they have the right to use the internet when they're using it for piracy anyway. If they aren't intending to pirate things then there should be a process for dealing with that and be done with it.

No, people are complaining about a guilty until proven innocent system that then charges you to to restore your services while presenting zero proof at all that you're guilty. and IP address is not proof, gimme your IP address, lets see how long your 3 strikes last.

People are complaining that they get no internet if they use it to steal stuff? Really? I mean if you have stupid kids or let your neighbors download stuff (bad ideas, both of em) then I could see the point of THREE different strikes. You should be able to buy your way back online though at least.

Google "copyright infringement" and you wont look like a complete idiot when you use words like "steal" on sites like Ars.

And yes, I let my kid download stuff and run an open WiFi as well... the idea is to share, it's not a bad idea, you might want to try it someday.

Quote:

Honestly I don't get why people seem to think they have the right to use the internet when they're using it for piracy anyway.

Lucky for most people on this planet they are not dependent on what you "get" or "don't get"

People are complaining that they get no internet if they use it to steal stuff? Really? I mean if you have stupid kids or let your neighbors download stuff (bad ideas, both of em) then I could see the point of THREE different strikes. You should be able to buy your way back online though at least.

First of all, copyright infringement isn't stealing. I also see nothing particularly bad about the idea of letting kids or neighbors freely use my internet connection.

Sounds to me like some in France are starting to wish they had thought of the NZ model. 18 million complaints, are $25 a pop. They would be close to earning a cool billion right now from processing those complaints.

Anyone else thinking that the numbers in this article are ABSURD? 18 MILLION requests, but only 1 million sent to ISPs to get names from the IP addresses. Oh, only a million. Okay. WTF?! That this French program has exploded this way shows how unmanageable it will be when unleashed in the US. It also goes to show how rights owners behave when they don't have to outlay any money (court costs) to punish a regular person. Pretty sickening.

It's only a matter of time before one of the activist/anarchist hacker groups like LulzSec or Anonymous gets the idea to have malware botnets seeding torrents. Then people who live in countries with these poorly conceived "strikes" laws will start getting penalized by the boatload for something they didn't even realize was happening. This kind of "enforcement" is ultimately impossible, just like the idea that certain content can be "protected" from copying.

I just want to point out that using any pirate symbols when protesting is probably not a good message to send to politicians. I understand that the underlying use is primarily for pirating, whatever, but if it were... ah nevermind. Nobody will read this anyways

I'd like to know if the automated logging software used by the copyright holders or representatives distinguish between seeds and leeches. To generate such a huge number of complaints (18 millions!), it probably tracks mostly small files such as songs, where everybody becomes a seed instantly. But if they track movies, they probably can't prove any illegal activity when the files is only partially downloaded and uploaded (leeches) so there are probably bases to deny the complaint.

It will be interesting to see how HADOPI-proof technologies will develop in the future, like proxies and VPNs, anonymous P2P that does not allow IP logging, a switch to cyberlocker and usenet sites, fake downloads/uploads to saturate HADOPI system and ISPs with complaints that can easily be proven false, more cyber attacks against HADOPI, ISP hacking, changing ISP providers, etc.That is, until someone with common sense in the government realizes that P2P sharing is not stealing and push the industry to adopt new means of remuneration for the artists that make use of all the new digital technologies. Or until HADOPI is made unconstitutional or illegal by the EU or something.Mmm, better strike that part with "common sense" and "government" in the same sentence, or replace "common sense" with "cojones".

I'd like to know if the automated logging software used by the copyright holders or representatives distinguish between seeds and leeches. To generate such a huge number of complaints (18 millions!), it probably tracks mostly small files such as songs, where everybody becomes a seed instantly. But if they track movies, they probably can't prove any illegal activity when the files is only partially downloaded and uploaded (leeches) so there are probably bases to deny the complaint.

I believe they get you just for participating in the torrent, regardless of having all or part of the file.

Chimel31 wrote:

It will be interesting to see how HADOPI-proof technologies will develop in the future, like proxies and VPNs, anonymous P2P that does not allow IP logging, a switch to cyberlocker and usenet sites, fake downloads/uploads to saturate HADOPI system and ISPs with complaints that can easily be proven false, more cyber attacks against HADOPI, ISP hacking, changing ISP providers, etc.That is, until someone with common sense in the government realizes that P2P sharing is not stealing and push the industry to adopt new means of remuneration for the artists that make use of all the new digital technologies. Or until HADOPI is made unconstitutional or illegal by the EU or something.Mmm, better strike that part with "common sense" and "government" in the same sentence, or replace "common sense" with "cojones".

As long as the media industry has a say in it, p2p sharing will always = stealing.

With all the IP address harvesting, and p2p lawsuits, there's surely people working on effective ways to share without getting caught on that. Here's hoping the arms race favors us!

Look at Netflix. It's proof positive that if you make content easy to get and affordable, people will buy it. What's easier? Streaming a movie from hulu/netflix or searching for a torrent and downloading for an hour?

There will always be people that swap files. Nothing in this universe or existance is going to stop them. Try all you want but you will fail. Period.

Now for the rest of us, when I pull out my wallet to try and buy your product, can you try to make sure I can buy it and that it's as easy or easier than a torrent? For example, I often watch music videos on youtube. I just surf around, one song leads to another. Inevitably, I'll come across a video the has been taken down to DMCA violation. All I know is I want to see the video and you are stopping me. Could you at least post an official version? Link to it? Many times an official version is not even available for a fee!

Another example is Shotime. I want to see Dexter. The season is over. I have a credit card in my hand. Where do I go? I have to wait 8 months for it to come on DVD. Umm, this is 2011. ever hear of instant video?

I know it's all very "I want it all and I want it now" but seriously, aren't they bitching that people are "stealing" their stuff? Well, dammit, how about you sell it to me instead?

I think the saddest thing about all of the issues with automated copyright enforcement is that it makes people hesitant to share. It's pretty much a given that you can't have an open connection if you are the one who would be liable for anyone using that connection.

I know that the ISPs terms of use usually forbid sharing anyway, but it's sad nonetheless. This turns individuals into copyright cops so they can ensure that they don't get disconnected. So much for share and share alike.

When everyone is considered a criminal, then there is clearly something wrong with the law.

The nominal practice of indicting everyone in a country sans the governing lawmakers is generally referred to as a dictatorship. But like everything else the French do so tastelessly, this process is full of sound and fury but really signifies very little. Because the whole rotten French IP edifice is built on shaky foundations of half-baked politics designed to please everyone while actually pleasing no one at all, there's nowhere for this legislation to go but into the shitter where it will ultimately be flushed away--but only after first having been completely discredited. Frenchmen love to play at being arrogant European sophisticate caricatures and in strutting their affected cosmopolitan veneers of medieval glamor, but underneath that enormous inferiority complex abides a national heart of pure mediocrity and banality. It's not at all a French concern that something should actually be done about the pitiful state of French IP law enforcement--no, that's far too close to "Let 'em eat cake!" to sit well inside the French psyche. No, the French concern has always primarily been that France should "be seen" to be doing something about IP enforcement--and be seen doing it with gusto!

People are complaining that they get no internet if they use it to steal stuff? Really? I mean if you have stupid kids or let your neighbors download stuff (bad ideas, both of em) then I could see the point of THREE different strikes. You should be able to buy your way back online though at least.

1) It's usually targetted at the uploaders.2) You don't necessarily have to download anything to infringe on copyright either. Get a movie of your baby dancing to commercially available song and it's audible in the background, BAM! copyright infringement.

Dogapult wrote:

If they aren't intending to pirate things then there should be a process for dealing with that and be done with it.

Unfortunately, if content holder says you are violating copyright. You are violating copyright, whether you are violating copyright or not.

I can think of at least 5 ways to break this system without illegally accessing anyone's computer. (No malware seeding bots needed.) I bet if one was sufficiently motivated and had enough upload capacity, (and just to be clear I'm not) one could set up every ip address in France via a simple script in less than a month as long as the people monitoring swarms only scrape IP addresses and don't actually try to connect to the clients.

As far as I understood, the IP logging machines are part of the swarm and are themselves seeds.They need to be normal contributors in the P2P network so they can see the other IP addresses.That's why such programs as PeerBlock exist.

licensors destroy the content industry not piratespeople in europe that wants to watch a show on hulu cant, because of licensorsmost popular shows are nearly impossible to watch outside of us

good example is the anime summer lineup at crunchyroll.com that has 4 shows available for UK and 10 for the US??????

people in europe are pissed due to the stupid licenses and they just pirate shows instead as its so freaking easy compared to legal ways

QFT

I think the lack of conveniently available content is a huge contributing factor to piracy. Many industries have yet to wake up to the truth that they just can’t deal with licenses the way they did 30 years ago when it was okay to release a product in another country 10 years after it was originally produced.

Nowadays, it still is difficult in most of Europe to legally obtain many US or Asian media content in a timely manner. As long as that fact remains I think piracy will remain a major issue no matter how much enforcement is put in place.

When I read the "If we get the same notice, from the same people, the same week, with the same software, it's counted as just one notice, not 10, or 15, or 20," said the spokesperson" part, it brought up some questions.1. So if I sent a notice about the same thing next week, even though it happened last week, is it another strike?2. With the same software? Is this reporting software, software piracy, p2p software?

Yep, and what if its 3 notices same week from 3 different whiny media companies?Whats to stop the music companies (for example) sending the same notice form Sony, Warner, EMI?

Anyway, we are coming out with a new plugin to help the Frenchies (and everyone else) in 1-2 weeks HADOPI, your task is going to get a lot harder... even with this 17 million backlogged thingies on your crummy back.

No pity for you ,scumbags.

Wait, doesn't HADOPI works with severs sharing trackers and sending mails on their own? I tought they didn't need complaints from IP holders?

licensors destroy the content industry not piratespeople in europe that wants to watch a show on hulu cant, because of licensorsmost popular shows are nearly impossible to watch outside of us

good example is the anime summer lineup at crunchyroll.com that has 4 shows available for UK and 10 for the US??????

people in europe are pissed due to the stupid licenses and they just pirate shows instead as its so freaking easy compared to legal ways

Do they not have their own content and shows?.

So your solution is to use only local produce and abstain from (maybe) superior foreign products as well as be ignorant of international culture till someone deems you are worthy of coming "into the loop"?